


If I chose you

by calileane



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Changing identity, Family of Choice, M/M, Second Chances, Unfinished-Discountinued work, Wish, crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 07:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2723429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calileane/pseuds/calileane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How would life be if Severus was chosen to love and to be loved as family? And who could be chosen after him by this one soul who wants to belong? What if those chosen belonged to different worlds?<br/>Slash (main pairings: Severus/Richard - Xander/Asher.  First meeting not before chapter four)</p><p>... Work unfinished might never see more chapters.....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Chosen

**Author's Note:**

> I am posting four chapters of a story wich I haven't touched in six years I think. It's a Harry Potter/Anita Blake/Buffy crossover. Slash. I actualy wrote it in my first langage (french) and then translated it in english. It might not be a good translation, but I hope it's easy enough to read. This story is still in quarantine on 'twisting the hellmooth': I admit I'm not that good in english and desperately search for a good translator (someone who can translate from french to english).
> 
> I only wrote 5 chapters, and translated only four. 
> 
> so here it is and please forgive the bad translating (I'm sorryyyyyyyyyyy!) I'm only posting it in memory of this idea I once had ^^

Warning: this is a SLASH (relation between two men)... The first couple appears only in chapter 4. Oops...

 

Warning 2: I knows this series of books only by fan-fictions I liked. So I will probably badly describe the characters or make them total opposite of what they really are . I hope not to shock possible fans of the series. At the worst you can always leave your messages and give me your opinion. But what I cannot change or arrange during the story, will maybe urge you to leave the adventure...

I wanted to try and enjoy myself in writing this. Good reading.

 

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belong to J.K Rowling, Anita Blake to Laurell K. Hamilton, and Buffy to Joss Whedon. I'm so glad they created them so I could play with them lol. I claim no rights to copyrighted material.

 

***

 

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Harry could not forget Cedric Diggory's empty eyes . Neither the tournament's events nor the torture at Voldemort's hands could erase this one moment. The moment when he had looked at these so empty eyes. 

He held until the school year ended, until it was time to return to the Dursleys. In this house which was not his and would never be his. He held every day behind the facade of a servant, a slave, one who was not a human being. 

But when night came, Harry curled up and locked himself inside his soul's ruins. No tears flowed. Harry slowly was sinking. He knew it would last for only those summer months, and then he would replace his golden Gryffindors' shell. He knew nobody would see beyond this mask. Because no one had ever seen the truth of his soul.

Before Hogwarts he was just the criminal nephew collected by a loving and perfect family. At Hogwarts he was the golden son of James Potter, the one who broke regulation and never was punished. In his room, at the darkest hours, he was a young man with a broken soul, at the edge of an abyss in which he so ardently wanted to fall.

And his empty eyes had nothing to envy to those of Cedric Diggory.

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Severus stretched his long hands after hours spent on a most complicated potion. He should already have gone to his manor for the summer but had noticed, passing in front of the deserted infirmary, that Poppy had exhausted her potion's reserves. And he didn't want to work on them at his return of holidays.

He had fortunately sent his effects to the manor early, and he only had to leave the school to apparate. While he was at his chambers' door, the flames in the fireplace livened up and a familiar head appeared. Severus decided to stay out of sight for fear of a delay in his departure. He just listened in case it was important 

" Severus Snape!? " Called the tired voice of Arabella Figg.

'What does this old shrew wants ' thought Severus observing the squib.

"Merlin! First Albus and Minerva, and now him. Isn't anyone in this school? I cannot watch Harry this week, my sister needs me. But I really hoped that Albus could find somebody to replace me … "

The old woman disappeared from the fire, leaving Severus with his thoughts. 'Harry? Certainly Potter! He risks nothing while he's adored by his family. But knowing his tendency of attention seeking, he certainly is going to find means to provoke a disaster. It will have to wait until tomorrow. Not much can happen in one night. Especially if he did nothing in the two weeks he already passed there. ' The Potions Master closed the door behind him and left his dungeons. He was more than happy to return to the freedom which his manor supplied.  


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The next day, Severus apparated near Potter's house. His long steps took him to his worst nightmare: James' son.  
Not wishing to deal with Potter's perfect family, he made himself invisible and used the back door which luckily was not closed. In the kitchen were two adults and a teenager discussing with anger. Had he entered the wrong house? The woman had a horse's face without any of Lily's beauty in it. The man and the boy had everything of two whales failed on the sand, up to the jerky breath. 

" We did not need the freak to break it's leg today! The Barnes comes to eat at noon. And nothing is ready. " The man fumed.

" And all this because he tried to bring down my poor sweetums. " The woman complained.

The young boy had the perverse smile of somebody who is happy with a well placed lie. Whoever this freak they spoke of was, he had probably nothing to do with his fall. Severus knew how to recognize a hooligan when he crossed one. 

" Potter is exactly like his father. A drifter! " Pursued the woman.

Thus Severus was in the good house.

" I am hungry. " The whale boy moans.

" Why don't we reserve in this restaurant Dudley likes so much. It would be perfect for Barnes and his family. " The woman with the horses' head said, enchanted by her idea.

" Excellent idea. If we leave now we can take the Barnes directly at their home and explain that our nephew destroyed our kitchen. I'm sure that they shall not blame us. After all we took in a criminal and look how he thanks us. "

The family got up and went to get coats and wallets before giving a call to book their table and leaving their place of residence. 'Well, thought Severus, until now I was lead to believe they worshiped Potter. But I'm not so sure anymore.'

The professor took the stairs, in search of the young wizard's room. He crossed a door barricaded with a serie of impressive bolts, but did not linger. Maybe they had a dangerous animal in the house? After some frustrating time without results, he returned with reluctance to the strange door.  
Fortunately the keys had stayed in the locks and he didn't have to use magic. It would not have done any good for the ministry to get involved in it if they had detected the use of magic in a minor's home. Their methods to recognize the age of a wizard were stunningly lacking any sense... And they would never have the idea to verify if a grown-up was with a Muggle born when the spell was cast. Severus opened the door and remained shocked on the threshold.  
Stretched out in an apparently unpleasant position, Harry Potter was holding his right leg squeezed against his trunk. The bone at the knee had pierced the flesh … Worse, dressed in torn trousers far too big for him, Harry looked like a skeleton, his ribs visible to those who wanted to see them. 

Worried, the professor knelt down beside him and tried to wake him as gently as possible. Even the one that all pupils were afraid of did not want to hurt a child apparently at the limits of his health. He shook the osseous shoulder and waited holding his breath. When green eyes empty of life appeared to him he almost suffocated with an unknown pain which had seized his heart. With a hand's gesture he tried legilimency on Harry to seize images of these last two weeks (happy to have mastered this enough not to need a wand and making it undetectable by the authorities).

Instead of only the holidays' period, he received in one go all the memories Harry had of years of dreams turned nightmares, of life turned hell. Years of slavery at the hands of his "family", years where he was ignored and never helped nor loved. Years at Hogwarts, those moments of hope of a new world before the disappointment of discovering who he was for the wizards, and what everybody expected from him. To be again only an image and not the one that he hid from the sight of all. Having to become their rescuer, while nobody came to save him. 

Each of his "adventures" passed in Snape's mind, and he could finally see the reality of the horrors they had brought. His biggest shock was to feel the respect Harry had for his potion's professor in spite of the hatred the man's actions provoked in him. Harry saw the talent of the Potions Master, but he hated that the man had seen in him only the shadow of his father.

Finally the visions stopped, letting Severus fight to find his breath, to collect his spirits and think of what he had to do. Because he couldn't leave Harry here, abandoned by his own family. He could not call Dumbledore who would abandon him to another person, certainly Severus himself. That would be another disappointment in the child's long list. He had no solution but refused to let Harry's soul break more. He lifted the boy in his arms. He knew that Harry would bear the pain of this position because he knew how to exceed his sufferings. They went out by the back door and hid in an alley before Severus apparated with his burden.

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Harry was too hot. His body in fire blocked his thoughts and his eyes refused to open.

" Do not leave me there … Somebody please. Help me. It hurts… "

Severus felt his heart stop again. Discouraged that he couldn't do anything. Because Harry's magic was going through this damaged body to repair it. But while the magic had to repair the cracked masks which Harry had placed on his spirit, it reacted differently to the professor's potions. The magic had created a dark shield around the child, a magic dome for magic "masks". Because Harry had unconsciously used of magic to make these various personalities behind whom he hid his soul.  
And because Severus gave him some potions as his soul was opened and fragile, its power had reacted too violently to the fact that a person had seen Harry when he couldn't hide. It was the mechanism of a lost child. As a last resort, Severus threw legilimens for the second time. Happy to be in his house, with house elfs present beside him to help him if necessary. But this time was different because it took Severus in Harry's mind. 

Everything was dark and stifling here. Nothing to guide him to Harry. So Snape walked aimlessly, calling Harry with a gentle voice whom nobody would have ever lent him.

" Harry … "

" Who? " Asked a tiny voice.

Appearing out of nowhere, a little boy about seven years old made him jump. He was small for his age, the appearance of years of Ill-treatment.

" Harry, I came to look for you. You have to return with me. "

" No no … " Pronounced the child by shaking his head negatively. " It hurts there. I am alone and they hurt. "

" Who hurts, Harry? "

" All the big, and the other children. It hurts to be with them. They hurt me."

" And if I stayed with you? "

" You don't want me, nobody wants me. You especially. "

' Thus, even here Harry remembers my attitude to him. '

" I changed Harry. I want to protect you, to help you. "

" No no. You are going to give me to Father Christmas. "

Severus hesitated between bursting out laughing at the description of Albus, and cursing for what the magic world, including him, had done to this child.

" I promise on my soul and my magic to keep you with me and to stay with you. " A blue beam shot out of his body and joined that of the child. The promise was sealed, Severus did not know what else he could do to convince him... when something unexpected occurred.

Harry began changing. His hair lengthened in sweet black locks, waving slowly up to the nape of his neck. The green eyes went pale like the jade water of a lake, having nothing in common with the former emerald of Lily's eyes. The child's body grew to give him the size which it would have had if it had been healthy. His features became refined, taking the nobility of Severus' face. The child had nothing anymore of Potter or Lily Evans. He looked like Snape, with strangely the nose of the Prince, the family of his mother, fine and noble. 

" A magic wish. But much more powerful than a child should be capable of making! " Exclaimed Severus.

The child moved back in terror to be recognized abnormal once again. But Severus was faster than him and enclosed him in a comforting embrace.

" Harry, magic is something exceptional, a gift which has its preferred among the wizards. And it seems that it loves you particularly. Do not reject the honor which it gave you. Accept it. It can protect you and love you as a mother would. "

" And you will be my dad? " Said the small worried voice.

Did he want it? If Harry had taken this appearance, nobody could recognize him. He would be finally free to live. But what would arrive if he became Harry again? And then he realized what he had said to Harry about magic. If it liked him so much that it transformed him in the world of the soul, then any spell could take place here also, with the added advantage that no one other than the caster being in the exact same circumstances could ever break it. 

And Severus knew that nobody would ever have access to Harry's soul in the same way. Nor would the magic accept them if they tried to use polyjuice potion to impersonate the first spell-caster. It was a unique occasion which would not be reproduced. 

" Harry I know a spell which would make you my son by blood. You would become mine and nobody could know that you were Harry Potter. Would you like to become my child? "

" I could be me? " Said the innocent voice.

" You will not have to hide any more but Harry, you have to understand that you cannot have any of your friends anymore, that you will be a Snape and that nobody else will know where is Harry Potter. You will have to begin your life again with me. "

" I am not Harry Potter. I am just me. "

And the truth of this simple assertion assured Severus that this new beginning had quite its chances. He seized Harry's hand and cut it with a spell, cutting the child's before gathering their two palms where the blood flowed.

" By my blood I choose you. By my heart I hold you. By my soul I make you mine. Child of my heart, become of my blood. "

In all his innocence and driven by the magic, Harry copied the words of his future father.

" By my blood I choose you. By my heart I hold you. By my soul I make you mine. Dad of my heart, I become of your blood. "

A dome of amber surrounded them. Their words interlacing in golden beams. And in the middle of the explosion of colour, a name rings … The magic had named Harry …

Severus opened his eyes in the real world and observed the seven-year-old child who had taken the place of his student. Stretched out in a big bed, he had taken the same appearance as in his mind.

" Aidan Severus Snape. " And suddenly, the love which he had had for Lily was not important anymore and all its past resentment disappeared. He had found a love more incredibly beautiful. He had been chosen by a soul that he had hurt, he had been chosen to be a father. He had a son. And in the moon's light as night had fallen during their strange journey, Severus got lost in the sensation caused by his hand caressing the black buckles of his child's head. He was not even surprised to feel the disappearing scar on the palm of his hand. And he didn't doubt that Aidan also had a cut of the same kind which would finish disappearing in time with his.

The next day, Severus took the precaution to plunge Aidan into an healing sleep. He entrusted his son to the house elf who had watched over them the day before, and left the manor. He bought an illegal international portkey which took him to the United States. There he created a past for Aidan, in which his mother had died after his birth leaving him to a Muggle uncle who had mistreated him.  
The uncle, a man living in an isolated campaign and recently dead, and without any contact with the outside, had the reputation of being cruel. Nobody would have been able to say if a child had lived or not with him. Then Severus asked for the help of an old friend who lived in this country.  
Together they found a doctor who signed the declaration of death and a medical file which Severus had magically created with the different wounds that Aidan had received at the hands of his family. Strangely, in his diagnosis, he found no track of magic wound, so Poppy would not be able to recognize her former favourite patient.  
The doctor agreed to fill a statement according to which he would have discovered a will in the uncle's papers and had sent it to an address which was registered there: that of a special department of the government of which he did not managed to remember the name(no Muggle could remember it even after having contacted them). There, Severus' friend proved his utility, because he worked at the American ministry and by a strange mistake had received the document (errors do happen). And instead of transferring the will to the right department, he had taken the child directly and had contacted the father whose name appeared on the paper. So Severus had gained custody of his son. 

The professor thanked his friend and returned by portkey to the manor. A day had passed. But at least Aidan was all his.  


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Severus kept Aidan asleep for a whole week, the time for his wounds to disappear completely. During this time, he cleaned a room in front of his and emptied it, because he planned to fill it with his son's help. He passed copies of all papers to the ministry and opened an account in Gringotts in Aidan's name. He placed in it the prince's and Snape's fortunes that the government had frozen after his arrest years ago. When he had been discovered as being a Death Eater and even after he had declared to have spied for Dumbledore. Being his successor Aidan could have access to those accounts closed for a long time, and it filled his heart of joy to know that finally the Prince family would have an heir deserving of its name. Once that was done, Severus came home and sent letters to Hogwarts' director and Lucius Malfoy whose son was his godchild. He explained in them the extraordinary circumstances which had overturned his life, and asked them to leave him the time to settle down before asking to meet his son.

When Aidan opened his eyes, they had lost their so painful look. They shone with hopes and with doubts. The former Harry was afraid of having made a long dream, of being alone again. But Severus was beside him and enclosed him in his paternal embrace. And the former Harry finally became completely Aidan. He was not ashamed to be seven years old again, nor to act as the child that he had never been. His soul shone with happiness.

" Can I call you dad? " Asked the child.

" Yes Aidan. You can. " And it was enough for the new born family.  


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Aidan raised startled eyes towards his father. Lifting a lock of hair he had revealed the pallid and unmarked forehead, without any scar in the form of a flash of lighting.

" It is crazy what a magic wish can make for you. " Said Severus seriously.

And Aidan gave him a crazy smile of unlimited childish enjoyment.

" What do we do today? "

" Direction Diagon Alley for a new wardrobe, and furniture for your room. You can put the clothes I bought for you last week for now. "

"Am I really going to choose furniture? "

" Yes Aidan. "

" And you are going to advise me? "

Severus felt the corners of his mouths lifting up in an almost smile. Taken between pride and laughter.

" If you need it, yes. "

Aidan laughed and ran towards the guest room in which he found black trousers, a pale green blouse and a black cape, his shoes were also black. It would be necessary for him to put a little more colour on his father. He found Severus in the entrance of the house, dressed in black, and throwing an austere glance his way. 

" Do not even think of it. " Severus said to him.

" Of what? " Aidan wondered.

" I will not change my clothes' colors. " Continued the man.

Aidan felt the corners of his mouth lifting up in an almost smile. And Severus saw at once the resemblance they had now. The boy's green eyes were illuminated with silent laughter.

Taking his son against him, he apparated in front of the Leaky Cauldron's entry. They entered hand in hand, without paying attention to the wizards who observed them with dazed eyes. Severus Snape was not known to love children. Together, they entered Diagon Alley and went to a shop of clothes more specialized than Madam Malkin's. Aidan enjoyed choosing colors while his father counterbalanced his eccentricities with darker and nobler tissues. In the end, they had succeeded, at Severus' surprise which had not noticed the manipulation of his son, to choose a deserving wardrobe in its mixture of colors not lively but of light and sometimes dark tone. Aidan looked at him with a vaguely annoyed air at the idea that his own father could consider him so bad in his choices of clothes. But he realized that his former appearance was not the best dressed. 

" I was never able to choose my clothes. " Murmured the young man.

" I know Aidan. But all the parents expect for their children to have a dreadful taste. "

" Really? " Asked the still frightened boy.

" Yes. Now I know what your tastes are. "

Aidan felt his heart warming, and it seemed to him that a part of is soul had healed. He loved this father he had chosen.

Severus took him by the hand and guided him outside the shop. They bought many potion's ingredients and books (Aidan discovered a serie for young wizards he adopted in seconds). The best moment of the day was the visit to the antique dealer. Because Severus said that the best furniture was the most ancient, which hold for centuries and bequeath from generation to generation. And they were often the most beautiful.

Aidan chose a wooden dark set. A four-poster bed accompanied by green curtains. A cupboard, a chest of drawers and a bedside table. Also a desk and chair which his father planned to put in a room he reserved for the child to make his schoolwork in. His own little office. There was also a rocking chair , with the wood engraved with creatures and trees. They could recognize a unicorn around a forest, a werewolf on a mountain howling at the moon and many others of a quality that took they breath away. Severus surprised himself thinking of the hours that he could pass on this chair, to rock his child before putting him to bed. He did not doubt that his son would need a long time to chase away nightmares and fall asleep without his help. The chair would certainly accompany them to Hogwarts for the school year. 

Other furniture was bought and sent to the manor, to make the place more human. Because Severus had never taken time to change the cold decoration his father had been responsible for. When they had bought all which would be necessary for the metamorphosis of the manor, Severus pulled his son towards a children's store, where he could choose toys. 

Aidan surprised him by limiting his choices and by explaining " why take too many objects which I would never use, instead of some which will make all my happiness? " Severus accepted, but made him a surprise, in reward of his maturity, but also to encourage him to act more his age. He took him in a magic animalerie, where he decided for a lynx of a magic race, which never exceeded the size of a cat. The small ball of hair was lively and playful, and adopted the child at first glance.  
An immense smile transfigured Aidan's severe face, giving him all the youth of his seven years. Fortunately for the Potions Master, the animal had been entailed to obey and be as responsible as possible. And had been infused by the same magic which made owls so useful. The positive point was that he could find his road whenever his master got lost, and could alike owls find a person just by knowing his name. 

Aidan was in seventh heaven. Upon their return in the house, he dashed enthusiastically into the rooms' decoration, pulling his father behind him to lift, sort out, arrange, repaint magically, and simply make all the work.

At the end of the day, while the night was well advanced, Severus turned to his son and found him sleeping on a carpet, the young lynx curled near his heart. And everywhere around them he could feel the changed atmosphere of the building. As if walls had warmed themselves, friendly now and reassuring. The man got the child and his companion and carried them towards the chamber which would be his for many years. The green tones had nothing of the simple colors of Slytherins' house, but everything of a forest. The room was perfect for Aidan with, in a corner, the rocking chair which would follow them everywhere they would go.  


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The next day, Severus was woken by a small hand caressing his cheek. He opened his eyes to the spectacle of his young son face alight with surprise and joy from discovering that the recent events were not a dream, and that he had somebody to love. And who loved him in return. The wizard smiled slowly and embraced his child. They remained stretched out in bed for an hour, to savor the existence of the other.

" Dad? " Asked Aidan.

" What? "

" I made a dream this night … Had a lady there who was called Eileen. She smiled at me and squeezed me in her arms. "

The heart of Severus flipped, then calmed down.

" There is a legend in my mother's family who says that our dead bless the heir. Each brings with him a gift … " Severus did not know how to explain.

" As the fairies in the sleeping beauty? "

Severus shook his head with surprise, because indeed it was rather comparable.

" Yes, as the fairies. If not for the fact that they are member of our family, and they can be more than three. Do you know what my mother offered you? "

" It was grandmother? " Asked the little boy. For which Severus agreed cheerfully. He would have liked for her to meet his son.

" She said that it was something so that I am not marked. "

The Potions Master stopped breathing at this word. There was no doubt that the mark in question would have been made by the Dark Lord once the child was grown-up.

" Was she more precise? " Asked the young father.

" Hmmm. She said: ' we cannot mark what is already marked '. And then she put a hand on my shoulder and put a drawing there. "

Severus moved the sleeve of the pajamas and opened wide eyes at the sight of the quarter of a golden moon which marked Aidan.

" That means what? " Asked his son.

" It is the mark of the true healers. They take part in no war, and look after the wounded of every camp. The neutrality of their magic prevents the light and the black magic from demanding them. "  
Aidan tilted his head, thinking and sad.

" Why did she not gift you it? " It would have been logical that Severus receives the mark at the same time as the gifts from the dead of their family.

" Nobody knew that I would take the brand of a dark wizard. There was no reason for giving me this. On the other hand, you would have been in danger being my son. Thus the gift was necessary."

" Can a true healer remove your mark? " Aidan knew since the tournament that his father was a Death Eater. And when he had entered his mind, he had had access to some recollections of Severus becoming a spy of the light.

" No, my angel. This brand can be removed only by the dark lord. "

Aidan was torn between sadness that he could not save his father, and joy to be called an angel. Severus seeing the ill-feeling began an improvised pillow attack which plunged the child into big roars of laughter. They, however, eventually left their cocoon of sheets and, having taken Elynx the lynx, left to hunt lunch.

" Aidan, as you're not old enough to be a pupil of the school, you will be entitled to a guardian while I teach. "

"Can I have Dobby? "

Severus blinked. And reflected quickly. The house elf had much energy, enough to survive a seven-year-old child. He was free, thus could use his magic to defend his son. Even if the elf was known for his Harry Potter's worship, he would not act with the child as with the young hero. Harry Potter the survivor and the future warrior against Voldemort, could not be a seven-year-old child with the gift of healer. Severus was worried on this subject but had the certainty that nobody would make the link with his son. He made it only because he knew the truth.

" All right. But it will be necessary for you to act as if you met him for the first time. As you have already seen the house elfs, you will have to appear just polite."

" I promises to be good. Can Elynx and I go discover the grounds? "

Severus had one almost smile. " Yes Elynx and you can leave to discover the manor. "

The child got up rapidly, kissed his father, and left the room at the speed of the wind. Then only Severus heard the suppressed laughter of the elfs who had served them. The first time he saw the elfs of the manor laughing since his mother had died. He inclined his head to them respectfully before going to his office. Only then the elfs exchanged glances full of tenderness.

" Our master finally found a family deserving of this name. " Said the oldest.

Severus was signing the last document which made Aidan the only heir of the Prince and Snape families, when the fireplace was illuminated, a noble person coming out of it. He had long hair of an almost white fair-haired blond, and a silver stick surmounted by a snake's head.

" Lucius. I suspected that you would come before the end of the time I asked you to grant me. "

" Well my friend, I could not let you face your new responsibility alone. And I wanted to speak to you before we take your son to see the dark lord. "

Severus felt his blood freezing. His muscles were as tense as the rope of a bow, ready to throw the arrow at the enemy.

" My son is only seven years old. Certainly the dark lord does not want to see a child? "

" Disabuse you. He was very happy to know that you finally carried out the duty of 'reproduction'. And his existence is going to save you from receiving the punishment you gained by not presenting yourself the night of the resurrection of our lord. Your son will just have to be marked, and everything will be well in the best of worlds. " The threat was clear in the cold voice of the man. And he was holding the arm where was placed his mark, as if he could use it to strike Severus. And maybe their master had given him the power.

" Lucius, my friend, Aidan is a healer. "

" Severus do not worry, I am sure that the dark Lord will authorize him to learn the art to cure. After all we always need healers in an army. "

" You didn't understand. Aidan has no capacity to be a healer. He has the 'mark' of the healers. He has the quarter of the golden moon of the most powerful of them. "

Lucius stopped almost breathing at the revelation. He saw all the consequences. And through his eyes, thanks to the magic, Voldemort had attended to the conversation. He sent a brief message, and left Malfoys' mind.

" The dark lord wants to see you, alone. At once. "

Severus was relieved that his son was not mentioned in the order. He called an elf and sent him to watch Aidan. Then he caught the black coat and the white mask of his Death Eaters disguise and followed Lucius in the fireplace.

They quickly arrived in the house of one of the Death Eaters. Apparently chosen as base for the moment. In the ballroom, Severus advanced on the throne where his master sat, and knelt down at his feet. But at no moment he approached enough to kiss his dresses. His absence at the resurrection of Voldemort was not forgiven enough to grant him this honor.

" Ssseverus. My beloved Sseverusss. It seems that you were given an immense present. "

" Indeed my Lord. The most precious of all. " Answered the Potions Masters.

" It is pity that the child is not a warrior. But it cannot be changed. I am disappointed. As well as you did not come to my call at the end of the tournament Sseverus. What was your reason? "

" I could not leave Dumbledore my Lord. He was watching me . He saw at once that you had returned thanks to your mark on my arm. He was terrified. "

" As he should. He is not ssso young any more nor also puisssant. The moment to face him has not come yet regrettably. What can you say to me? "

And Severus knew that the dark lord already had knowledge of many things. That his spies and his intelligence had revealed him most of Dumbledore's tactics. Fortunately there was not much more to say than what was already known. Dumbledore had kept Severus aside, to not put him in a dangerous position with his "master".

" Dumbledore did not include me in his plans. He waited for me to answer one of your calls to see how I reacted to it. Make sure that I would not betray him by joining you. If I show him only certain parts of this discussion, I could make it seems as if I am his spy once again. For now I can say that he is gathering his allies once again. "

Severus had already played this game. Persuade Voldemort that he spied on the order of the phoenix for him, while he spied on Voldemort for the director of Hogwarts. Sometimes he had difficulty not to loose himself.

" Indeed. Go tell him that you saw me. And make sure to be integrated in his plans in the future. Crucio. " Finished the Dark Lord to dismiss him.

Severus twisted in pain, thinking of Aidan all the way. Keeping in mind that now he had a new reason to fight. When the spell was raised, Lucius helped him to leave the place and go back to his manor. He left him in his office, where they had left one hour earlier. After his departure, a ball of hair entered running and jumped on Severus, licking his face as if to comfort him. A sweet laughter rose at the threshold of the door. There Aidan was, eyes in tears, with a big relieved smile on his lips. The child followed the example of the lynx and jumped on his father, surrounding him with his small arms and with all his heat. 

" Shh... Everything is well my angel. I am well. "

The child agreed silently. Refusing to remove his head of the hollow of his father's shoulder. Severus swallowed the potion passed by an house elf, and upon his shivers easing he got up with his son in his arms. In Aidan's chamber, he settled down on their rocking chair and rocked the child, falling asleep with him.


	2. Second Chosen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note: Harry acts as a child because his magic gave his spirit the age of his new body, even if he keeps the knowledge of all his sufferings. He is capable of surmounting them because he has Severus.

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It was strange to arrive at the school with a child in his arms. Severus had been incapable of leaving him alone at the manor. Especially after the dismay he had caused his son the day before. But at least he knew with certainty Voldemort wouldn't touch his child. The meeting, although painful, was worth it. 

If the potion master hadn't been obligated to assist to this meeting with Dumbledore, he would have stayed at his house, shielded from the rest of the world. But his report could not wait more. And it was important that the director saw his son before he noticed that Harry Potter had disappeared. Aidan had to have a well enough established life so that nobody could connect him to their young hero.

So, Severus had woken up early and had taken his son for this new adventure. Naturally, Aidan had seen fit to remain half asleep during the morning preparations. The result was clothes put a little at random, hair still ruffled, and a young Lynx curled up in his arms. The whole carried by Severus as an invaluable treasure. The image would have amazed more than one person if there had been witnesses. 

Fortunately for the wizard, the castle's park was empty and he met no one. He was safe... for now. Why had he just reminded himself that he was soon going to face some professors who stayed at the school for the holidays? He had the sudden vision of a Minerva with her mouth open in shock... maybe there was some good in this story.

He chuckled slowly at the idea of his colleagues' reaction to his new domestic situation. The only bad think was that he couldn't hide his affection for the child and so would be a victim of a rather violent change of reputation. It would be impossible for him to stay the hard and dull potion's professor when his son was beside him. Given that the child would be with him for the school opening the pupils would be spectators of his soft and protectives gestures. 

Strangely, it had not as much importance as he would have believed. Aidan was his spark of life. The rest of the world could indeed burn in hell. After all the wizards had made him go through, he had no love left for them. He could say the same about Dumbledore whom he had formerly considered as a father, before being used once to many time to spy in his name. And thinking of what Aidan had lived at the hands of the director until now did not help him to change opinion.

His biggest wish was to escape this world of treason and pain, to find a family to love and protect, and to never be in the hands of Voldemort or of the too manipulator Dumbledore. But if he fled the magic world, Voldemort would find him thanks to his mark and Aidan would fall in the hands of the wizards. A true healer was precious for them: something that they would never depart with. And the child would be in his turn prisoner, although in a different way. 

" I would love for us to be free. Far from the wizarding world and all our sufferings. Without our past catching up with us. "

" No no, dad. It's not like that. You have to say ' I wish '. I wish that we were all far from here, and all the wizards. That dad and I were never ever touched by Voldemort nor Dumbledore again. I wish that we were a happy family. "

" Granted. " Pronounced a voice. Severus could feel the demonic aura of the being to whom it belonged. A shape appeared, that of a young lady with long curly hair. Severus moved back enclosing his son protectively against him.

" You have nothing to be afraid of . I am Halfreck, former vengeance demon. When my superior decided to kill me, instead of dying I was transferred in a parallel world. The powers of the old demon are not what they were anymore. Now I choose my assignments. No boss and no preference for the sides of the darkness or that of the light. Very practical … But I forgot myself. I am henceforth the justice demon. I take charge of children. It was my biggest dream. And it would indeed seem that with Aidan's wish, I can give justice for not one but three persons. "

" Three? Why? " Asked Severus, relaxed by the contagious cheerfulness of the demon.

" Aidan first of all, who used quite a lot of his magic already not to be the wizarding world's hero anymore. You Severus, because you should have received justice for your childhood a long time ago. And a person who is very dear to me that I shall soon present to you. "

" How do you plan to realize this wish? To put us out of reach from good and bad wizards? And how is Dumbledore going to beat Voldemort without Harry Potter? "

Halfreck looked at him haughtily.

" Did you really believe that a child was intended to save them? The prediction was sent by the Powers that Be. They like controlling. And Harry Potter was the center of so many possibilities that they had to put their hands on him.  
The prediction was the means to manipulate him. Dumbledore was the hand to shape the child in a powerful weapon. If you had not decided to make these potions for Pomfrey and had not stayed for so long in the castle, you would never have received Arabella's message. And you would not have gone to see Harry. Harry would have survived his summer as every year, and would have returned with his mask in place. He would have lived to destroy Voldemort, and would have become a breeder, married to a witch of pure blood, to give powerful children who in turn would have served in the wars of the coming centuries. His lineage was never free of the Powers That Be. " 

Aidan squeezed his small arms around his father's neck, frightened to wake up from his long and beautiful dream and to have to survive again.

" Don't be afraid Aidan. Nobody can take you anymore. Your magic changed you forever. And my magic is going to protect you for eternity. I grant your wish with some practical changes. Like a new house and to keep all your money wherever you go … " With a big smile to the child the demon resumed. " You will have access to the inheritance of the Prince, the Snape, the Potter and the Gryffindor of which Aidan was the last descendant. Everything will be transferred with you. The furniture of the manor will be placed in your house. A former hotel in a city named Saint Louis. With a big garden and access to a forest. The building is rather big to contain all the manor's furniture. For the 'I wish that we were 'all' far from the wizards ': I suppose that 'all' mean you two, Elynx and your two house elves? "

" Yes! " The child exclaimed.

" Indeed. I shall have to modify the appearance of the elves so that they can adapt themselves to your new world. They will have human appearance. The world I speak of is in fact in another dimension. In which magical creatures are only legends. Vampires and lycanthropes are legal citizens. Vampires have souls and lycanthropes have more control. Although they are all more mortal than here. The magic exists but there is no wizards. There are those who practice voodoo, healing, necromancy. And many others. Severus, your knowledge on potions will adapt itself to their plants and ingredients. You will have a shop to sell them, and I am sure that you will make a name for yourself very quickly. Aidan will be a normal child. "

" No no! I want to be a healer! " Aidan said getting indignant.

Halfreck reflected a moment then smiled slowly.

"Well. Your power will be asleep, saved for those you will be connected to... will consider as your family. You can heal them if they are hurt. I do not want for somebody to attempts to use you while you are only a child. " Aidan agreed wisely.

" You will also have the memory of a fictitious life. As if you had been born in this world. That will help you avoid having problems later. I ask only for a single thing of you. "

" All right. " Accepted Aidan even before his father could intervene. The demon skipped cheerfully and granted him an immense smile. Which reassured Severus a little.

" I would like for you to welcome another person in your family. He is very precious to me, and regrettably suffered a lot. He didn't made a wish, but if somebody wishes for him then … "

" I wish that the one in your heart is of my family. " Declared Aidan … And his father stayed again open-mouthed without having had the time to react.

Suddenly a young man appeared in front of them. The vision shocked Halfreck to tears. It was impossible to tell the man's age. He was covered with wounds and with blood. His eyes two bloody empty cavities. The demon ran to him and took him in her arms. The young man struggled violently, but his position and his weakness made him give up to the powerful embrace.

" Shh...I'm here… Halfreck is here, I am here. "

" Halfreck? Halfreck they have... they have... they let me be captured by the demons … They knew that I could do nothing against these monsters. The demons took my eye. They took the only one I had left and dived iron bars into both cavities. That hurt, that hurt so much… Buffy said that it was all I could do. That I could serve as diversion the time they got the others back. They all sent me in the caves so that I could serve as bait … And I was alone … Halfreck, I don't want to be alone anymore. What do I have to wish? Say it please? I do not know any more please … "

A small hand stopped his words by settling on his mouth.

" Shh... you will be my older brother. I already made the wish. "

A second hand, longer and grown-up, more male and stronger took place on the young man cheek.

" Aidan is right. You will be his older brother, and we shall take care of you. Aidan chose me as father while we were not even of the same blood. If you want it, you can choose us as family. " Said Severus, touched by the young man's sadness.

" He says the truth Xander. If you choose them you will be more loved than anyone in the world." The demon told him.

Surrounded by Halfreck's arms and the sensation of love which came from the child and from the man whom he could not see, Xander began to hope.

" I wish... I wish to have you for family. "

" Granted. " Pronounced the sweet and calm voice of Halfreck.

Suddenly three human beings were plunged into the memories of each other. Each perceiving the recollections of two others.

Severus saw the child deceived by his parents, often humbled, never appreciated. His friendships and their long years of happiness and misfortunes. The battles, the monsters, the apocalypses and the help which he had brought to those who had more powers than him. Human being without capacity and nevertheless with so much magic.  
The magic of a heart capable of seeing without limit. To understand the night in the same way as the day.  
Then the treasons. The estrangement caused by the others, those who considered him too immature to understand their responsibilities, or to help in whatever capacity he could. Without power, useless. But he could be proud, said the others: he was an excellent bait. Demon's magnet.  
Even while he had lost an eye to protect them, even while he had survived and won for this group. He was of use only for that. He had another idea to enter the caves. But nobody listened to him, and all the voices told him to rely on them. They had a plan and they knew what they did. But their plan was a sacrifice, his. All this for human beings who had tried to appropriate a demonic weapon for their selfish means and had been captured by the demons. Oh! They had been helped, saved. And all Buffy had to say when somebody had asked where Xander was... was: " as usual! Certainly running to escape the demons. He will eventually return". But the young man had been taken and tortured … Alone and desperate.

Xander saw the child deceived by his father. Never loved, beaten. Then the hope to be far from his executioner, in a school where he would learn to protect himself with his magic. The rough disappointment, to be judged on his appearance and the house he represented at the school. To be mistreated by the other pupils, aimed at by the same group days after days. To lose the young lady that he liked and seeing her choosing one of those who tortured him.  
The ultimate treason, when the director had hardly punished those who had almost cost him his life one night of a full moon. The man who should have brought justice had still chosen his preferred, red and gold, those who symbolized the light. While their hearts were darker than his. The impression that Dumbledore waited to be able to use him. When and how he did not know.  
Then his biggest error, his choice to enter a group to be accepted, honored and recognized for his talents. But be marked instead, and becoming a spy to save the one that he had never stopped loving. Too late … Be humbled lower than ever in spite of his help to the light. Years locked into a castle, under the attentive eye of an old manipulative man. Then the meeting with a child who looked so much like one of his torturers. To hate him for this only reason, hurt him even more without noticing that the child needed to be saved. 

Xander saw the child: his chamber in the cupboard under the stair. The abuse, the absence of love, the solitude. The hope finally of a new world, the magic of a dream. The disappointment, the image forged to be a being that he was not. The fights, the pain, accompanied but so alone. To be shaped by an adult who should have helped him. The summers of suffering without any help. And be again plunged into this world which worshiped him and rejected him alternately. To not know who he was, to hang onto stories of his parents' past. And have no other future than to fight for the others wizards.  
The pleasure to fly, free in the air, always free above. And finally, finally, somebody who sees him with the broken masks. Somebody who perceives the child hidden in the darkness. The magic wish and the father that he chose. The fear of losing everything, and the big wish made to the one who assembled them all here. 

Three human beings relaxed against each other. Having accepted the past of every member of their family. Having chosen a new future.

" Halfreck? " Asked Xander.

" Shh … I know. It's all I could do for you. To thank you for having given your love to my heart's sister. To have seen that all the demons are not monsters. To have saved the world at the price of your happiness. To have shown me that an adult can remain the child that he was, and to survive a broken childhood. To have proved me that I can return justice to these children, even when their souls are in adult's bodies. "

The young man tightened his grip on Aidan near his heart, and dropped his head on his new father's shoulder.

" Now that you are bound, I am going to give you the last instructions. As I have already said it, you will not have to care about money, and you will have in memory the necessary banking information. The house is a former hotel with a dozen rooms. A big library, a kitchen, a lounge and full of surprises. Your two houses elves will be almost human, free of all the spells which bound them to the Snape's manor. I transferred the link to you three. Their lineage will always be faithful to you. As you they will have memories a fictitious lives and legal documents to prove their identity. Xander … " 

" Yes? "

" I cannot restore your sight. But I give back your eyes and erase the scars. And I can modify your gift. You are and will always be ' the one who sees '. This power can serve you to evolve in your new darkness. You can smell and recognize who is present in any place. You can say which creature it is if the person is not human. You can always find your family and those to whom you will be connected wherever they are and it doesn't much matter the power which hides them.

I shall make you Severus' son in blood. Quite as Aidan is already. You will be a true family. Severus the potion master, Aidan the healer, and Alexander the one who sees. As I want to avoid for you to be damaged you will be protected against the metamorphoses. No lycanthrope, vampire or other can change you. This power will be the mark of your lineage. A rare magical gift which cannot be copied. And I have an advice or two for Alexander : you do not need to keep this jester's mask which you used so often. You are not Xander anymore, nor Alex the mistreated child. Lex would be an ideal nickname. And finally, I registered you in literature classes. With your imagination and your past, you would certainly write heaps of books which I would hurry to read.

No! Do not protest. You know that I am right. You always have heaps of strange ideas. Plans of last minutes. You adapt yourself to all situations. This talent can serve you to write … Create a person who will give hope to people who need it. "

" … You said that you would read my books. Does that mean that we shall see you again? " Asked Alexander.

" It just means that I will observe you. You will always be my favourite. For now your wishes are not completely carried out. You will have surprises along the road. "

" Coming from you, it is slightly frightening. "

" Slightly? I lost my touch. " Was the sarcastic remark of the demon. " Good luck. "

The three disappeared from the bubble of demonic magic which had sheltered them outside of time during this meeting. Halfreck turned to the castle where Severus should have gone that morning:

" Beautiful one, your children are in security now. No more wizards can touch them. "

The castle seemed to sparkle under the rising sun. An illusion? Or a spirit thanking a demon? Halfreck left this world, appearing invisible in the new house of her favorites three human beings.  
Severus lifted himself up of the carpet which had eased his fall. Beside him, Aidan observed, mouth opened, his new older brother. And indeed, the metamorphosis was surprising by its simplicity and its perfection. His hair reached the nape of his neck, collected in a plait as black as those identical of Aidan and Severus. The blind eyes had silvered reflections crossing a pale grey color. His wounds had disappeared, his clothes were changed. A simple black, not too wide, but rather ample trousers to move boldly. A black blouse on a small green dark shirt. His body had no other differences than some features borrowed from Severus and from Aidan. A sweet almost invisible mixture.

Aidan and Severus were dressed in the same tones, and had the same braided hair. Their silent observation was interrupted by a small lynx tired of being ignored which threw itself on Aidan. Severus jumped, and noticed that Lex had not made a movement. He remembered that his new son had a gift of vision, and that he had certainly anticipated the action.

The potion master helped his children to get up. And together they turned to the two other persons present. A man and a woman of average size, with big smiles and slightly pointed ears. The former two house elves seemed delighted with their new life.

Lex closed his eyelids, even if it was not really useful in his darkness. He observed his companions with his other sight. They looked like strands of colour. A dark green with some nets of silver for his father. A silvered thread with gilded reflections for his brother. Pale and alive greens for both elves, with in superimposing two stars on the part that he supposed to be their foreheads. The room was a ghost of lines in forms of furnitures, grey on black. He could live like that.  
Especially when greens and silvers now came to be bound in heaps of colors, in a dance of happiness and love.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totaly claim Anthonin Cardiff and Alcerif. They are MINE ^^ and were needed for the plot to come out like I wanted lol

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Adapting to their new house had been easy. Every room seemed to be something coming right out of their dreams, every element familiar to their spirits, brought straight out of their imagination. If one of them had in his life wanted a book, it was in the library, in spite of the change of dimension. If a piece of furniture had caught their eyes they could find it in one of the multiple rooms. Everything here was according to their most secret desires.

 

Both house-elfs, finally humans, but having kept their elf magic, were of a big help. They took care of their three masters and the tasks of common life. The fictitious lives which they had in memory allowed them to act as human beings, to go out and to go shopping as them. Their ID cards named them Elsa and Rihak Elfen, married couple in their mid forties. Not being slaves of the wizarding world anymore was freeing, but for them to be loved by the family of their choice was even more precious. And they had chosen the Snapes. Severus Snape, Aidan Snape and Alexander Snape.

 

The first few days were spent in the discovery and happiness of being free. The only concern was the presentation of the Snape family to the magic society which lived in the city. Magicians, witches, healers and other beings of powers had gathered in a community, separately from lycanthropes and vampires. They answered only to their magical leader, bearer of the title of Supreme Magus, who in turn answered only to the master of the city a vampire called Jean-Claude. Their pact was simple: those of their community were welcomed in St Louis as long as they participated in the protection of the city and its inhabitants, and did not cause problems. The Master Vampire had the advantage to be able to appeal to their magic if the need appeared, and in exchange the potential members did not have to announce themselves to Jean-Claude as long as they appeared before the leader of the magical community. It had simplified many things and brought numerous profits. As, for example, keeping their powers secrets until circumstances called them in the name of the city. Many wizards spent all their lives in the shadow without ever being called. The Snape family would reveal its gifts to the Supreme Magus, and only a need of their skills would make them known to other creatures.

 

Severus had made an appointment for the week following their arrival, wanting to give his family the time to revise their 'false' memories and to see what they could expect from this world. The magical community was not very strict as long as one did not cause damage to the city, so the period between their arrival and their presentation had not caused any turmoil. The day came, Severus went alone to the hidden entrance to Saint-Louis' magical part. As in his world the wizards had set up shields to hide. Not by fear of being burned alive, but not to be used by the rest of the population. At least, they had no laws against dark magic. If you knew how to control it, and did not try to hurt or kill other human beings (except for hens and other animals sacrifices of certain types of magics), you had the right to use it. Severus was reassured, he had never understood how Dumbledore hoped to fight a black wizard without using the same weapons as him.

 

At his entrance to the throne room, a ballroom of a big and old house with a wooden bench engraved in runes used by the magical leader, he was led in front of the 'sovereign'. He had priority on all delegations of the day, on all the judgments which the Supreme Magus would grant. The reason was that the Magus had felt his power when he had crossed the shields of the manor house. Severus had expected to be taken seriously, after all he was immortal and his aura had to have traces of it. But he was entitled to the reception of a prince... for the first time in his life he had in front of him persons who respected him in spite of the black magic which coloured his power. It would take a certain time for him before he could become used to the total acceptance these people showed of all magicals abilities.

 

« Welcome... excuse me if I do not adress you by your title, but you never mentioned your importance when you asked for audience. » Declared the man who reigned on the assembly.

« I have no title. The status of my family and my servants was recently changed. We were powerful … and became much more at the price of certain ordeals. » Declaimed Severus.

« Nothing can be obtained without sacrifice indeed. How may I call you? »

« ... Severus. If it is not too familiar for you Supreme Magus. »

« Not in the least. It is a great honor that you lend me Severus. May I hope that you wish to announce your installation in our community? »

« We were assured my family would not be used. If you can promise that none of us will be used and thrown away without any consideration... If you can promise us that we shall not be betrayed... I shall swear allegiance as regent of my lineage. »

 

The Magus took a sudden breath. Severus asked him nothing that the community did not find perfectly natural: honor was the basis of their lives. When a new member entered their big family, he was protected from everything and in exchange had to agree to protect the others. Furthermore, the wizard who seemed apparently more powerful than the Magus himself, suggested submitting himself... when with a simple spell, doubtless possible, Severus could take control of Saint-Louis' magical beings. The sovereign got up, all the traditions which wanted that he moves from his seat only at the end of audiences swept under the table. He moved toward Severus and asked him to kneel down.

Severus thought that it was a test, to see whether he was really going to put his life between the Magus' hands. But he was surprised by what the king wizard really did.

« Me, Alcerif, magus king of the city of Saint-Louis, protector of the magical community, guard of the city, ally of its Master… pronounces in front of the court the following terms: The Snape line is accepted as ally. As a token of confidence between our two houses I adopt Severus Snape binding our destinies. As long as the descendants of at least one among us will live, the city will protect them and they will protect it in return. »

 

« er… you should have perhaps waited to know that my family is somewhat 'immortal'. » worried Severus, still struck by the declaration.

« But I knew already. Your aura Severus Snape announce it clearly to any child of magic. I could not accept a submission whereas I could ensure a stronger alliance by granting the statute of equal to somebody who is in all logic more than me. That would have been a lack of honor on my part. And a voluntary ally brings often more than one citizen subjected to orders. I can see honesty in your blood. Tenacity. The heart and the force. Nothing of what your family seems to have survived, will arrive between our hands. By this adoption I placed you beyond attack of a large number of dangers. This position will withdraw you from the political game of our courts while leaving you your freedom. Moreover, The Master Vampire of Saint Louis will not be able to require your allegiance. You are my equal, and after my death you will not be able to promise your line to anyone anymore. Only one oath will be made to my person, who will continue for the centuries to come and beyond. »

 

« But what do you gain? » Severus was too used to be only one means of achieving a more important goal.

The magus reflected, conscious of what Severus thought, and of the importance of an answer:

« I cannot conceive a child. I gain heirs beyond all expectations, that no avid shark among my cousins will be able to deny. I protect my heritage from people without scruples. And I know that you would take care of each one of my treasures with great care. »

Severus could not find fault with this reflection. More especially as the Magus' actions had acquired him more than he had set out to gain with this meeting. He could not refuse the honor of the adoption, the insurance that his children would be safe. Incapable of stopping himself he asked:

« And you acknowledge all that before a whole assembly, knowing that these words will come to your cousins' ears. Are you masochistic or what? »

 

The magus roared with laughter:

« oh! The specific phrasing will not be transmitted to them, every magical being in the city is under a particular spell of silence. Nothing of what occurs in my court or among my subjects will pass the city's walls. Especially when each person who took refuge in our community came to escape my cousins' reign in the rest of the country. Saint-Louis is the paradise of wizards, the sacred refuge. You have chosen well your residence Severus Snape Alcerif. And yes, you must take my name… Considering that I do not have a family name, the only choice is my first name. I am happy that it will remain a long time in the world. I could not have hoped for better than a immortal as a descendant. »

Alcerif was apparently over the moon. The witches and other magicians present were curiously content. And the whispers reaching their ears clearly proved what the Saint-Louis' citizens thought of the remote and hated cousins… Severus had resolved an ancestral conflict and had just released Saint-Louis of the influence of any external magical community. Quite simply by coming to live in the city.

The potion master started to think that his family would never do anything normally. At the same time, if they were to survive the passing of time they would need a means of having fun. What could be better than to be a natural troublemaker, the one to upset all drawn up plans?

 

Of course, the true joy of this meeting, for Severus, was that the leader of the magical community fortunately did not have anything of a manipulative Dumbledore. As much seemingly than in actions (even if he had made good use of Severus, it had not wounded him in return… worthy of a true serpentard, all in smoothness. But with the honor that his old house had lost in the course of time). Alcerif was rather young from the top of his fifty apparent years, until he revealed that he was 160 years old… His brown hair was short and styled into soft waves. A dark blue costume, lightly cut and bordered of embroidered runes, accompanied a silver cane ornamented of an egg sized sapphire. Though Severus had the certainty the magus did not have Dumbledore's mentality, he still had a certain madness: or rather what one could describe as a complete freedom of speech and of thought (or a great capacity to ignore whom he wanted when he wanted, and to aggravate the rest). So Severus was not surprised when the man seized his arm and guided him in a nearby office to sign legal papers of adoption. In order to make sure that nothing would be disputed on the civil side of things.

 

In fifteen minutes all was finalized… although it took a few hours to explain the Snape family circumstances. Severus now being related to Alcerif by magic, could not lie to him on his past, nor tell him the “false” history created for this world. He explained to him all about his native world and the demon Halfreck. Happy to have at least one person with whom to speak apart from his children. Anthonin Cardiff, Advisor and friend of Alcerif, had been included in the interview. He had taken an oath to the line of Alcerif (in spite of the absence of an heir at the time), and was considered to be worthy of confidence: nothing of what he would hear on this family would cross his lips in the presence of a person external to their secrets. Alcerif had not wanted to hide anything from his friend. At the end, the advisor was very useful to decide which access the master vampire of Saint Louis would have to the Snape family. Jean-Claude would know that a powerful being had entered his city and had been adopted by Alcerif, stopping him from having to submit to the vampire. The being of the night could not approach Severus without breaking alliance with the community. Jean-Claude woud have to trust Alcerif's judgement, which only could call on the powers of his new son if it were necessary to safeguard the city. All in all, Severus and his sons would be hidden in full view. Visible but inaccessible.

 

The night had fallen before Severus could think of going home. Alcerif insisted to meet his 'grandsons', confident they would not yet be in bed without being assured that everything had gone well. By leaving the manor's walls, Anthonin Cardiff which had appeared only as being large, somber and as beautiful as a Greek statue of the former gods, was transformed into an able bodyguard, mortally dangerous. The magic which exulted of him was like a sword ready to slice the least enemy. It was not astonishing that the high magus did not have any other guards… No being, healthy of spirit, would approach the man with such a guard. Those which could neither see nor feel auras would not even see the shade of their silhouette thanks to the various camouflaging spells placed on them.

At their arrival in Severus large house, surprised to see the transformation of the old hotel that they knew, the two magi were attacked by a little boy of seven years old and a small vicious lynx… i.e. that the animal clung to Anthonin's leg with its claws and did not release him for the rest of his visit. The lynx almost refused to let him leave as he seemed to have come to adore the human in the little time he was there.

 

While Elynx was making a new friend, Elsa had led the group to the library, where Alexander was putting into practice his newly gained knowledge on Braille. He was so concentrated that he did not ear them enter and presented a most extraordinary view to them. In the safety of his house, he had left aside all his magical shields, and the threads of his aura had stretched themselves all over the room, free to rove. At their entry, all that they saw was a blue cocoon of light, transparent and dancing water which surrounded a splendid young man with silvery gray eyes. A slight noise made him turn his head, and the locks of his hair were accompanied by a movement of the various colors of his aura expending to explore the new presences. Feeling the power of unknown men, and recognizing the bond which had been created between his father and one of them during his absence, Lex did not hide behind the usual shields. He rose and presented himself, astonished to be suddenly surrounded by the arms of one of the mysterious men. The one now related to Severus. Imagine his surprise at the announcement of the adoption… And his pleasure when Aidan proposed that they call Alcerif “grandfather”. The leader of the magical community passed the rest of the night (everyone deciding that sleep was not important in this moment) acquainting with them and discovering in them the family he had always dreamed to have. Anthonin was declared adoptive uncle… to his great happiness.

 

Life in the community, after the first upheavals due to the responsibilities the adoption by Alcerif forced on them (besides the advantages), was easier than they had hoped. Severus opened his potion store and made available to his new people his incredible talent of creation. Quickly, he had been made known for his cures of the various magicals and humans diseases, and for the potions' quality necessary to certain ceremonies and enchantments. The witches especially were over the moon, thanks to a whole section reserved to the sale of certain plants among the rarest and more expensive on the market… the whole at a price more than accessible due to the fact he gathered them himself, in the garden at the back of his house. The potion master thus preserved his title in this new world. And Alcerif gained some additional power on the community by the act of adoption which made Severus his son. Although he had initially wanted this bond only out of respect of a powerful being, he was happy that his position was even more assured. He could thus better protect his people.

 

Aidan had a simpler life… he woke up in the morning, went to school, returned and enjoyed his family. His healer gift had not yet been put to use, fortunately. His adoptive uncle had all the same started to teach him the various methods of the healers and the magi. The earlier done the better prepared. Elynx had become his familiar, and never left him… Severus had never been so happy that the animal was hardly taller than a cat. Without that the city's inhabitants would have had some frights during their walks.

Alexander had more difficulties than them. Even if his 'phantom vision' was of a great help, it was usable only in closed spaces (houses, offices, coffees), and left him completely disabled in open space. His aura curled up against him as soon as he put foot outside. As even in his fictitious life he had lost sight only recently, he had to learn how to walk in the dark. He was just grateful to have the memory of learning Braille when he was young, by curiosity. His first steps had been wavering and the multicolored bruises which covered his body were the result of many falls. Lex had refused to be cured by Aidan, in order to keep the proof of his efforts (and after all they were only bruises). It took him one month to gain in insurance. Then he launched himself in the training of his future trade, going to the university Alfreck had chosen for him. His days were a perpetual adventure: exhausting but gratifying.

 

They spent one year in the anonymity of their community. And if Jean-Claude knew that Alcerif had adopted a wizard and had gained two grandsons on the way, he had not asked to meet them, knowing that the magus would be the only one to decide on a possible meeting when he would consider it inevitable and not before. More especially as Severus' remedies had quickly become irreplaceable in the lycanthropes' private clinic's reserves. The wizard had an incomparable gift to create cures of all kinds for the nonhuman population. Thus the vampire let him live in peace, content that the man's talent was not lost to the creatures of his city.

Alexander wrote his first book this same year: The legend of Anyanka. Telling the life of a powerful vengeance demon falling in love with a human. And even if at the end she died and her heart went up to join the stars in the sky, the book was not less successful. Because the character was one of the most beautiful which had been written in years. The young author had a true talent as a storyteller.

It took two more years for the supernatural world to upset their existences. All in one meeting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richard meets Severus :)
> 
>  
> 
> (No more chapter unless my muse comes back one day for this story). Hope you will love the little I could gift you with those 4 chapters.

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HP/AB  
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Richard could not take being a werewolf anymore. Since Anita Blake entered his life, it had become hell. Even if it all began before even that. Transformed at 19 years old, he had lived under the yoke of a cruel alpha. The lycanthropes of the city were under the orders of the most powerful of them, their alpha, though to victoriously defy this one allows one to take the throne. Richard had tried to beat alpha Marcus but at the end always refused to kill the other wolf, whereas only the death of the ringleader would enable him to take his place. Anita's actions changed everything. The woman had channeled the powers of the she-wolf Raina (one lycanthrope who was using her powers in the pack to sleep with the newly turned werewolves). Being done, Anita had accidentally become “Freyja”, which meant that any male being able to catch her and to make love to her without transforming themselves into a wolf would become the alpha.

Richard had succeeded.

 

After certain events, Richard had announced that Anita was his dominant female and that he would refuse any other woman. Of course, he had not intended that the woman of his choice would end up pushing him back under the pretext that she was victim of the Ardeur: a power which nourished of sex and forced her to sleep with other men. Richard being a jealous man, she had preferred not seing him rather than constantly earring his criticisms. That had not stopped the many arguments she had with the werewolf, because of the bond they shared in a triumvirate. They were two parts of a trio with the Master of the city and vampire Jean-Claude. They had access to the power of both others and were thus powerful enough to protect their communities. But Richard had to bind to them more actively to save his clan, becoming stronger but stuck to them definitively. He never wanted to share Anita with the vampire, or any other man. Was it due to him wanting to follow the example of his own family, so happy and as balanced as can be? Offering honest love and remaining faithful to each other. What was wrong in wanting to found his own family with the woman of his life? If it is not that she wanted him only when she needed power apparently.

Richard had made up his mind after realizing he was becoming increasingly egoistic and inhuman. Treating the others, in particular those in contact with Anita, with a lack of respect and sometimes a stifling hatred. He did not have any more a family to guide him and show him his errors: his parents, his brothers and sisters, all dead, killed leaving him alone not knowing the reason of this crime. He had not found who or why. And he was alone. He tended to walk in the parks and to observe parents and children having fun, dreaming a little too much a similar life with Anita. He would have continued his descent in hell, and would have ended up wounding somebody or even turning all those of his clan against himself , if he had not heard of a Potion Master creating miracle cures for those in need.

 

The man he was earring about could heal many diseases and wounds, helping as much as possible humans and creatures of the city alike. It was rare for a human to agree to deal with nonhuman so completely and liberally. They all wanted something in exchanges, or misled them in order to better destroy them. But this Potion Master had become one of Saint-Louis' treasures. Richard had been astonished not to have been informed of this being earlier, in spite of his rising reputation these two last years… Until he surprised a conversation in Jean-Claude lair. Some vampires had spoken about the potion master being part of a secret magical community which hid its population from everyone except for those which served the city. In fact only 'Normals', humans outside the supernatural, did not know of them. The shop of the now surnamed Severus Snape Alcerif, Potion Master, was known to be findable only by a person really needing what it contained. Only the most despaired, dying, or other poor heart in distress, could reach the place and speak to this Severus. Them and those of the magical community. According to the rumors, Jean-Claude had never tried to ask him more, but only because the “wizard” (as many named him) was the son of an ally of the vampire and thus untouchable.

Richard's mind had since decided that the only means of leaving its destroying behavior behind was to become human again, and to do that he hoped Mister Snape could create a cure against his lycanthropy. Then the wolf could stop hiding its state from its human entourage, other professors of the school where he taught in particular. All his days were devoted to the werewolves, and this part of his life turned entirely around Anita. All the attacks against the supernatural, all the arguments, all the errors (his own errors), turned around this woman. And Richard did not want to become what he now saw in the mirror. He was bitter, and so close to using his powers against those Anita had chosen instead of him. He still remembered when the young woman had pushed him back under pretext of the Ardeur, and now reproached him to not sleep with her to help increase the power of the triumvirate… Anita seemed to put everything that went wrong in her life on him. The time when he had attacked somebody who had wounded him, she had struck him, without taking into account the distress in which he had been. Nobody had supported him, holding his actions against him. They all accused him of taking a bad direction, of making bad choices, of not helping Anita more… Even if he admitted having made serious errors, he did not have to spent his life blaming himself just to satisfy them. Since nobody took his side, since he remained alone each time he needed them, he would manage. He would find this Severus and would become human again. Why remain when no one needs him?

 

These were the reasons which had taken him to this district of the city, in the small alley where he rested after having sought in vain the magical shop. However much he wanted to find it. He was sure that he could reach it, as he corresponded to the clause which made it available only to those in great need of help. Suddenly, his childish rage to be refused the right to enter there made him shout silently against all that made him suffer. He wanted to find all that he had lost. The moment when he wished to be finally accepted, he found the magical place.

In place of the wall where was stuck a poster representing a snake rolled up on a flask, paper gave way to a double door without handles. For single ornament : two bars carved in the shape of snakes were used by him to push open the doors panels.

He entered a vast room filled with racks and libraries carrying all kinds of objects and books. The labels with the noble letters made him blink as certain names were so… incredible. Dragon's scale? Griffin's feather? Under the words it was indicated that they were the last specimens on Earth. Richard could not know that it was because in this world such creatures had never existed, contrary to Severus' native world. More common plants, and some rare shared the aisles. Things which he could not name… Books of potions, ancestral recipes. But what really drew his attention was the man inclined above a cauldron, murmuring and taking notes on a parchment.

 

His age was not easy to guess, forty perhaps… who knows how old. But the man was tall, his hands were long and fine, gracious. Some silky locks of hair escaped the ponytail retaining them on the nape of his neck. The black mane seemed to be extremely neat. His pale complexion emphasized the darkness living in the thin body. His hooked nose did not withdraw anything from him, adding even more character to the man. The Potion Master was surrounded by a sense of danger. However the incredibly black eyes which rose towards Richard had possessed during one moment an attractive warmth. The impression passed as soon as the man realized the werewolf presence . The potion master removed some dust from his fine black shirt. His legs contained in black trousers neither too tight nor too big carried him towards the intruder.

 

« What can I for you? » Asked the wizard.

Taken aback by what he saw in the magician's eyes, Richard ended up announcing:

« I learned that you make cures on request. I want to become human again. » He had found his breathing back, but not so much of his intelligence… Because he should have seen that the man opposite him was not the kind to like the lack of information.

« Do I also have to guess which creature you are? You are lucky that I am not as stupid as you, if not I would have cured you while taking you for a ghost. Fortunately you are not the first werewolf I have met. Of course, since you believe you can remove a power that is intrinsically part of you, proves well your lack of neuron. Which idiot would try to destroy a part of his heart? »

Richard fought not to attack the man verbally, or physically :

 

« If you had left me the time, I would have gone into details. And the wolf isn't me! »

« Are you so sure? » Severus whispered. « Don't you feel the energy which course through your body, which vibrates and sings with your heart, multiplied by ten by the power of the wolf? Don't you have access to all your being thanks to the wolf? Don't you see that it tries to be part of you, to protect you, to be… accepted? »

This last word touched something inside Richard. Bewitched by the dark man, his body was swaying gently, while his spirit clutched the other's words. Did the wolf… growl contentedly? He breathed the wizard's odor, inspired his essence. He drank his words. He liked to be recognized… where so many others were unaware of the wolf, this man saw that the animal had not merged completely with its host. And Severus had also understood that the wolf's character copied that of Richard.

« You might have been contaminated by a lycanthrope, but the wolf in you was born from what already existed. You gained the power and the animal. But the wolf's heart is similar with yours, a little like a soul mate. The American Indians would have thought of a totem, representing your being completely. Perhaps a spiritual guide. It is what I hate the most: that so few lycanthropes seized the true sense of their animal halves. That so few merged. What a waste. »

 

Severus moved away from the wolf, but was surprised when the creature seized his arm. He realized that the animal was in control. He was not frightened, since he was immortal… But his heart was beating wildly for the first time in years. The creature's amber eyes fixed him with an almost intolerable intensity. The wolf's aura danced and tried to connect itself to Severus'.

« Bloody hell! » Severus shocked. The wolf was trying to bound with him. The wolf wanted him as a companion. Their two auras had partly merged when a voice called Severus with anguish. The wizard escaped the wolf's power, although it succeeded in marking him, claiming his possession. Severus' arm had been freed as soon as Richard had recovered his mind, recognizing the urgency in the new voice. Severus had already run in a near by room, and the alpha followed him.

He discovered the wizard knelt close to an armchair on which a child rested. The man made him drink potions, pressing slightly on his throat to help the liquids pass. He was very soft with the approximately 9 years old boy. A young man was at their sides, petting the child's hair. He was murmuring explanations, unconscious that the sensitive ears of a werewolf heard each word:

« His school informed me that the fever took suddenly, and they called me immediately. I think he tried to cure himself but he is not yet trained enough to use the power necessary on himself. What he pushed back of the disease came back multiplied, because he did not have any more energy to fight it. You absolutely need to speak with him on this subject. He cannot continue to hide from us when he is not well. I know that he can cure us without problem, but the effort is too important when he is the one in need of care. »

« He is obstinate, and too used to be strong for others. The best we can do is to train him more. And to take care on him more than ever. »

 

Richard had to have made a noise without realizing, because gray and apparently blind silvery eyes turned to him. An expression of astonishment crossed the young face having some of Severus' features.

« I didn't even sense him enter… » said the astonished young man. « And why is his aura merged to yours dad? »

Severus frowned… and the wolf in Richard was charmed to see the vague pink color which appeared and disappeared on the white cheeks.

« It is not my fault. The wolf decided for a reason which will eternally remain a mystery to mark me. »

« er er… he saw the light and he entered, saw you griping in your corner and chose you… There really is no reason that the spell on the store let him pass because what he needed was you! This had nothing to do with magic and destiny. »

« No need to be so ironic! And I am sure that the magic made it purposely just to irritate me! Since we arrived here, she's having fun with my life! » Severus was indignant.

The young man looked at his father with his blind eyes and smiled in view of the childish attitude. Alexander could have sworn that the magic really tried to cause these reactions in his father. At the same time here the magic was an alive and vibrating entity which definitely had a playful soul.

Severus stood after a last caress on the feverish face of his younger son and advanced towards the wolf.

 

« What do you want from me? » Asked his now cold voice.

Richard, more than the wolf in him, regretted not being the target of the warm attitude gifted to the two children. The words left him before he could think:

« I want to belong. » He answered.

Severus stopped breathing, recognizing in the alpha what he had wished himself for many years. Could it be that the magic had chosen to act thus because it knew that Severus would understand?

« What do you think I can do to achieve this wish? »

Richard took time to think this time:

« I would like to see you looking at me with the same softness that you reserve to your children. I want to be able to feel what pushed my wolf to mark you. I want to understand how you succeeded in softening the suffering which I can read in your eyes. »

« I do not know how to do that. It is natural with my family. I don't know you. »

« Then get to know me. I will return as often as you will allow it. To spend time with you. »

« I won't know how to include you in my activities… » Severus hardly protested. The mark of the wolf had given birth to something in him. He felt a strange warmth he was not yet sure he would be able to refuse. He had lived in loneliness during so long he could now recognize the importance of this bond. To tear it off, even hardly formed, would be like removing part of his heart. This part which he had thought lost forever after Lili Evans. He was unsure. He closed his eyes, to block all that this man awoke in him. Memories and doubts.

« Teach me how to accept the wolf. Show me what it is to be whole. » For the first time Richard felt sure of himself, of what he could do for this only wish that the shop had apparently granted. It was not like with Anita, nor like anything he had experienced. The wizard was powerful, but his power was not what attracted him. He was not a model of beauty, but the entirety of his being was a balm on Richard's scattered thoughts. The wizard darkness alleviated his own darkness.

Richard did not feel like he was loosing his head anymore, did not feel as a jealous man acting stupidly, violently. In this shop, at Severus' side, he felt at home. Not his dead family's home, reserved to an inaccessible past. Richard had found this place that many seeks all their life, his refuge. The difference in age did not disturb him (he could not stop from thinking of the difference between Anita and Jean-Claude). And he was not afraid to be controlled by this knowledgeable being, having apparently lived through much in life according to what his eyes revealed. Richard and his wolf were in agreement on this point: Severus belonged to them and they would spend the time necessary to gain him to their cause, to possess him.

Severus nodded affirmatively. In spite of the fire burning in the man-wolf's eyes, he knew that he could not stop what the magic had started anymore.

Richard smiled and inclined his head in respect before leaving the private part of the shop to go back to the secret entry in the alley. Once certain he was alone with his father Alexander, who was calmly taking care of his unconscious brother, dared to speak:

« Well! It will be a hot show! »

« Alexander! » The Potion Master exclaimed indignantly.

Invisible in a corner of the living room, Alfreck observed her victim. Anyanka would have been proud of her. She was going to make things burning hot for a certain dark wizard. Of course, once it was done she would have to see to her next target…

Strangely, Alexander felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand up. He did not like this sudden distressing feeling.

Alfreck wondered who she could choose to heat the young man's sheets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Er… no I am not vicious with my characters. I love them so much that I want them all happy…. with the person that I have chosen for them ^^
> 
> (the author directs her marvelous innocent smile towards the reader): you believe me don't you?
> 
> I'm sorry to say this is the last chapter I translated. I wrote one more but couldn't find it... I will search for it but can't promise anything.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few hours of search I found the lost chapter.... and a sixth one... and the beginning of a number 7. I really didn't remember I had written that much. 
> 
> I translated number 5 so here it is. I'm hoping the translation did'nt go too badly ^^
> 
> Summary: Richard, Severus, Alex and Aidan. And Family time ^^

Severus began to regret agreeing to help the werewolf. And it had nothing to do with the fact that the creature had still not arrived to begin the series of encounters that would allow them to get acquainted. No, Severus did not blame the other man simply for not being there. He should blame him for forcing Severus into a bond with him, because the sorcerer knew what would happen if he agreed entirely to this pledge of their soul... he definitely would not have to sleep with a werewolf, or to spend eternity with him ... not the least.

Severus began to regret the message he received from Halfreck shortly after Richard's departure at their first meeting. Message clearly announcing that if Severus connected to any being sexually, mentally and magically, his companion would become as immortal as he. And because of this, Severus should be absolutely sure of his choice. Because as wolves only have one true companion in a lifetime .... Severus would have only one mate for eternity. 

Severus began to regret that Richard's wolf had chosen and started to mark him ... and that magic had allowed this.

If this had not happened, Severus would not have been waiting for the other man for hours ... for days ... since their first meeting. Because Severus really didn't know when Richard would return. He just hoped it was soon.

No, Severus was not forced into this strange relationship. He knew that magic did its best. And he felt in his heart that Richard would be a good husband. Severus was just upset that he had had no choice, and that he could not have more time. The sudden change in his long bachelor life was what truly gripped his heart. The day he stepped into a physical relationship, he would be as good as married for eternity. Severus was terrified ... and waited.

 

Behind the shop's counter, he chooses to avoid potion creation that day. He was not as concentrated as usual.

 

The one light in the midst of all his gloomy thoughts was the little boy sleeping on a swing against the wall in front of him. His little Aidan, treasure of his life. It had been a week since Lex had brought him back from school with a high fever, a week since meeting Richard. Severus sighed.

 

The sorcerer left his place and gracefully glided towards his child. He sat on the floor in front of the swing, putting a hand on the fever free forehead. Although cured, Aidan had been exhausted by the energy his magic had expended trying to treat him. As a consequence he often slept, and fortunately deeply. It had only taken a few months after their arrival in this world, to get rid of all nightmares. Even Alexander had stopped reliving his torture every night. This dimension was separate from their former torturers' influence. They were protected from their past, even if the future here was full of its own dangers.

 

While he tenderly stroked his son's head, Severus did not hear the arrival of the one he had hoped for all week. The muscular and powerful wolfman watched the touching scene with pure amber eyes. The wolf was in the front line. Richard had spent his days anxiously waiting for the right moment. He had had to deal with clans problems, paranormal threats to the city, Anita recriminations. He had to hide his wolf from the humans he worked with at school and control his burning desire for the potion master of which he knew nothing yet. In this very second he did not care to be in the dark regarding this man's life, so long he could be near him he was happy.

 

Of course, the scene he was witnessing had calmed his wolf and his need to possess the sorcerer. The wolf had decided that the child health and well-being came first, and before the complexion of the link. Richard and his wolf agreed on the importance the potion master's children must have for their father. Nothing could exceed the children link with their parent, not even a wolf bound. Strangely this particular wolf seemed to have adopted the two young Snapes. Faced with the sweetness exhibited on Severus face, Richard felt helpless. The man he was and the creature too were in agreement when at the side of this mysterious man. The vibrating desire in his whole being was put in the background. He was aware that their relationship was just starting and he would have much to do to win the other man's heart. Yes, Severus' heart. Richard more than ever would not accept being placed second in the life of the one he chose. He was reassured to see the emotions on the otherwise cold face in his presence. Reassured that this wizard was human, and that brought out his own humanity, releasing his hatred for the wolf he had become. Richard realized then that he had become a wolf, but the wolf had become him. He realized for the first time since becoming a were, the presence of a link that connected the creature and the man in him.

 

"Glad to see you are not too stubborn to see the truth." Came Severus' voice who had read the man's aura and perceived his last thoughts: the start of a union between man and wolf in Richard.

Richard came out of his trance and plunged his eyes into the sorcerer's:

"I'm often too stubborn to see. It seems your presence helps." Unable to be anything but honest with this magical being.

 

Severus almost smiled, an overwiew of the emotions he freely gave to his children in normal times.

"You found your way without needing my lessons today. Seeing inside your mind and being was a part of what I wanted to teach you."

"Being with you helps me stay calm and understand who I am. There is no better proof that we belong together." Softening the effect of his words by turning a soft look to the sleeping child. Proving that he accepted Severus entire being, family included.

 

"In another life I would have protested, refused to be a prisoner to another person. To be forever under the influence of another than myself. In another life ... but since we are in this city, I learned to pick my battles. I learned to recognize my desires of what I really need, and what needs to happen. My oldest son made me realize that you needed to enter my life ... and I needed to enter yours. But do not expect it to be easy. I am a free being. All I would see as an attempt to change me or manipulate me will be rejected. "

 

"I understand. I can assure you that I want you as you are. I accept your darkness as well as your light."

Severus took a deep breath, sure that his heart would explode. This being had seen what he was: the heart he reserved for his family only, and the darkness that had built his personality, his soul. The sorcerer understood what lead the wolf in his shop: he had found someone who was like him, completed him, a mix of day and night, sun and moon. All hidden by protective masks, lies, they offered to others so not to be injured. The Potion master knew in that second he had found someone to whom he could stay true, someone to show his true self to.

"And are you prepared to accept that my family's secrets will only be revealed to you the day you belong to me completely?"

"If it means that you shall then be mine too... yes." Richard walked toward the wizard and put a hand against his cheek. His thumb stroked the pale skin, keeping the other under control of his bewitching eyes, amber taking a brilliant golden hue. Man and wolf agreeing on their chosen companion. Leaning over the kneeling wizard, Richard left Severus time to push him away before kissing the wizard's closed lips. Enjoying the man's gasp of surprise, the were ushered his tongue into the hot cavern. A kiss short and hot, sweet and eternal. The wolf's mark on the wizard became firmer, the link entering its first phase of complexion.

Severus pulled away slightly fixing amber eyes with doubt and a little scared. But Richard was satisfied with his fingers on the sorcerer's face, calming Severus' inner torment. They smiled a little, accepting the link and what it changed in their lives.

"Are you married?" Asked a sleepy voice.

Severus turned a horrified gaze to his young son, while Richard blushed. It had been a long time since either of them had been caught in such a situation by a family member. Richard because all of his relatives had died. Severus because he was left alone long before he had his children. Before Severus could speak Aidan continued:

"Lex said you had found your destined one. And that when you're destined, you should get married. Could I be there when you marry?"

Severus felt a strange warmth mix with his mortification. A part of him totallyagreed with the child. He would not venture into this relationship without being assured that it would be eternal. But he did not know how to respond to the child, if not to reassure him that he would be present if anything like that happened.

"Don't worry Aidan. I'll always be by your side. You do not have to worry about not being included. We are a family, eternally linked."

The child seemed calmed by this affirmation. Although happy and safe with his father and brother, his former terrors sometimes resurfaced. Those came from the abuse suffered at the hands of his uncle and the hands of their old wizarding world. When Severus hugged his son, Aidan allowed himself to let go of his fears. Sure to belong. He was surprised by the two arms unexpectedly added to their hug. The warmth added to his father's gentleness was strangely welcomed. Those unknown arms also seemed to belong. And Aidan found himself convinced that the unknown man was made to stay with them. Alexander had been right.

"When will you marry?" He asked with no doubt that it would happen.

Severus was taken by uncontrollable laughter. And Richard found himself smiling happily. He loved this deep and lively sound. He liked to be included in this unique moment.

"If ... when we are ready, my angel. We have many things to settle before we can get married. Lots to reveal to be fully accepted by the other."

"I can help?"

"You'll end up helping, fatally ... with your brother ... although I'm scared of what you'll concoct together." Severus replied with a sigh of resignation.

After prolonging their hug a few seconds, Richard pulled away. He got up and offered his help to Severus who had his arms full of the little boy. Once standing, they went to a private room at the back of the shop.

Richard was surprised to see an afternoon snack arranged on a table. Seeing no one who could have prepared and deposed the food and having sensed no other presence in the store before.

"Magic." Explained the male voice of Severus who had noticed the wolf man's astonishment.

Richard asked no more questions. His life had become very strange in a week, and he loved it like that. The answers would come in their time. The three spent a pleasant hour getting acquainted. Although he hadn't learned much about the sorcerer's powers, he had a clearer view of his family life. Severus had explained to him that his eldest son had lost his sight under torture, but that he had special powers that helped him in his regular life. Powers they would talk about at another time. When he learned that the young man was the author of one of the best seller book in the country, Richard surprisingly began to anticipate their next meeting instead of fearing he would not be accepted by Severus' eldest. Aidan presented himself with only a few words but under the shyness Richard had seen the wounded child now surrounded by love. He also knew about the healing gift and its limitations because Severus thought rightly to tell him since the child had already incorporated Richard in his list of persons linked in their family. Severus himself explained some of his work, and why certain things like lycanthropy had no possible cure.

After taking a magical vow of silence about what he learned in this conversation, the werewolf was introduced to the secret of the city's magical community, and its special relationship with the master vampire. And Severus' adoption by the mage Alcerif.

"So you're the adoptive son of one of Jean-Claude's powerful ally. But although the gesture may seem politic, you have created a united and loving family."

"Grandpa loves us. And Uncle Anthonin too. And we love them. And even Elynx is accepted."

A growl from Severus at Elynx name only increased Richard's curiosity.

 

"Elynx?"

"Elynx is my lynx. He's magical and the size of a cat. Dad says he's happy of that because otherwise people would have been scared off Elynx when we go for a walk." Confirmed the child whose shyness had finally quickly passed.

"This is a unique magical creature. The last from its race in the world. Although he could reproduce if he found a companion. But in this case it would create a new race because his girlfriend would not be the same species. And yes, Elynx is really a lynx the size of a cat. Although as smart as a human being, and malicious. If he likes... you, he will hold to your leg the second you'll be presented. "

(AUTHOR NOTE : in french we use different words to adress someone from first-name to less familiar terms. While in english 'you' can correspond to either.. It made translating difficult in the last phrase. In french it was « S'il t'... vous aime ». Severus hesitated between first name or less familiar. I needed to add this explanation for this part)

 

Richard's heart beat stronger earring Severus' hesitation.

"We could be on first-name terms. It would be easier, and logical. We are going to spend a lot of time together. And I wish I could be more familiar, closer ..."

Severus bit his lower lip. Despite himself, everything was moving very fast between them. And since nothing could stop the process, he could at least make the decision to accept the inevitable or not. He preferred to accept. Severus nodded because words would not pass his throat.

"Do you want to play with us?" Asked Aidan's innocent voice. Ignoring anything of Severus and Richard secrets thoughts about a different sort of game. A game that would bring even more. Shaking their head to clear their minds, the two men let themselves be dragged away by the child into an afternoon full of good humor. At the end of the day, the adults were as exhausted as the child recovering from an illness. And all three were asleep by the chimney fire, lying against a pile of colorful cushions, some of whom had lost a few feathers in an epic battle.

It is on this image that Alexander stumbled upon returning. Literally. He had just spent one of his worst days. Because he had spent longer out than he planned , and had spent more power to 'see' than he had expected. Back in the shelter of the store, he did not even have the energy to spread his aura as he usually did. He just used his cane to move around the shelves and other furnitures in the direction of the private lounge. When he felt himself falling, having struck legs he assumed to belong to his father, he was surprised to find himself in the powerful arms of another person. He recognized the smell of the wild man who had met his father last week and relaxed automatically.

"Are they asleep?" Lex asked now earring snores coming from the other two.

"Yes. We had a full day. You should rest too." Richard, not really totaly awake, pulled down the young man lithe body . He placed him between Severus and himself, beside his younger brother. As Aidan was also surrounded by the two adults. Alexander was too tired to protest or to worry about being beside someone he did not know. And after all, this man was his father's promised, and therefore could not be a danger because the magic would not permit otherwise. The young man fell asleep, protected in the embrace of a wolf man and his father whose arms already surrounded his little brother Aidan.

While the four were deep in sleep, two small sounds of apparition broke the silence without disturbing them. Both house elves-humans cleared the table and covered the group with light covers, leaving with the humans a small lynx which lay down on his little master before closing tired eyes, having barely sniffed the air accepting the werewolf immediately.

Without realizing it, they spent the evening and night in the same position. Children protected between adults. In the morning, Severus opened his eyes and blushed under the gaze of a very awake Richard. And even with no evidence, the wizard was certain that these eyes had been observing him for a long time before he woke. Severus finally turned his attention to his son, wondering when Alexander had returned and lay down with them.

"He fell on us yesterday late afternoon. I narrowly caught him and had him lay between us. He looked exhausted." Richard voice was worried.

"Alexandre has a tendency to spend more energy than necessary if he thinks it's important. It's pretty rare that he feels tired. He will tell me later what happened. It should not be very serious if he did not wake me when he arrived. "

"Is it strange that I became attached to your children so quickly?" Richard asked.

Severus saw the man doubts. The uncertainty of belonging to his family.

"I don't think the link is fully responsible for your actions. A part of your reaction to them is due to their personality and to the fact that they have you so easily integrated within their lives. I know our relationship was born by my magic and the power of your wolf. This does not prevent our relationship to be real, to be ... precious to all of us. "

"So I have to learn to let go when I'm with you. And no longer fear that everything is an illusion." Said Richard.

"You must learn to believe ... believe in yourself and that what happens to you is true and that you are in charge, not a victim of circumstances. You have to believe, and make your own decisions. Do you want what the start of a bound offered us? Do you want an entire family? Do you want a stubborn and dark man? Do you want ... "His words were interrupted by Richard's lips who had risen above the two children in order to reach him.

"Is it my second lesson?" Richard whispered against Severus' lips.

"Yes ... and I think this one was more than learned." And Severus was glad of the choice apparently made by Richard.

"Did it help you that we pretended to sleep?" Asked Aidan's little voice, answered by his elder brother laughter.

Richard found himself blushing for the second consecutive day. Delighted to see the same expression on Severus' face.

"It would have helped more if we had stayed 'not really asleep' in silence Aidan ..." Laughed and amused Alexander, still lying down and eyes closed.

"Oh!" Exclaimed Aidan. "OK." And closed his eyes and fell silent.

Quickly, the adults' laughter rose above the youngest. And Aidan felt more loved in spite of his small error. Severus was the first to launch one of the cushions on the two bad actors, causing a pillow fight which only stopped for lunch.

Richard took advantage of a whole weekend with the family. Up to turning off his phone to be left alone. He knew that if the city was in danger, Jean-Claude himself would try to contact him via the triumvirate's link. And this link between the three, that he had hated for so long and had feared would block the one he wanted to create with Severus, had taken a new dimension. Severus had confirmed that the trio's link would pass in second place, becoming background to their own link, because Severus brought more power than the vampire and human. Severus gave true immortality to Richard. And although the gift of immortality would not touch Jean-Claude and Anita since it was fully reserved for Severus' companion and not anyone who was related to that person, that power was superior to a triumvirate and therefore prevailed. The wolf felt a profound relief. For the first time it would be more powerful than its other two 'allies'. For the first time it/he (wolf and Richard) was free. Anita was going to come down hard once she noticed. Especially since Severus had promised to teach Richard how to silence her with a glance. The wolf was not sure how to copy the cold and dangerous glare Severus showed him, but he was quite amused by trying to do so.

And the best point was that if the triumvirate was one day broken, by death or by magic, Richard was protected from the devastating effects of such a thing. His future immortality would ensure him shelter. Richard made sure all the same to make it clear to Severus that he was not in this relationship for power, even if it was a bonus. And Severus spent long minutes, more than convinced, in the arms of this man, his lips possessed by those of the wolf.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here is the last completed chapter I found on my computer. I could remember the ideas in it but couldn't remember writing it lol
> 
> So... maybe one day i'll write more... anyway: here is my christmas gift to every fanfiction reader loving those fandoms.
> 
> Summary: Shang Da and Jamil.... are due an explanation. Awkward moments.

It was strange to wake up in his own bed after spending the last night in a nest of pillows and blankets at the back of a potion shop. More than that, it was painful not to have at his side the only living being who could calm the man and the wolf in him. But Richard did not really have a choice. His absence had worried Jamil and Shang Da, who served him as "Hati" and "Skoll" - titles of the two bodyguards which his place as king entitled him to.

The two werewolves were concerned about his safety, especially after all the dramas that had affected their pack and the rest of the city's creatures recently.

Even the rage Richard had openly displayed against all his people had not prevented the two men from doing their job and protecting him. Quiet, strong and stubborn were three words that described them perfectly.

For Richard these two people were the ones who deserved his utmost trust. Even if they were his protectors only because he was their Ulfric, all packs could not pride themselves of having wolves as powerful nor as professionals in the performance of their duties. Their honor was what Richard appreciated the most in them.

The Ulfric realized with a sinking feeling that his relationship with them had become difficult because of the damage his own anger had caused in their clan. It was one of the things he hoped to change in the coming days.

After getting up he showered quickly enough to be clean without losing the smell of the Snape family still clinging to him after this weekend. He forced himself to eat despite the anxiety gripping his heart. He did not know exactly how to begin to change for his people. And he wasn't sure if it was better to wait a bit before announcing that he chose a mate. He wanted to scream it from the rooftops ... and at the same time keep it secret in his heart.

 

The same warmth he felt when whith Severus filled him again. Thinking of the sorcerer warmed him as nothing had done before. Nothing but those happy years he had with his own family before their death. He found himself wishing for his mother to be here to meet Severus and his sons. She would have loved them. And would probably have laughed that Richard found himself a man who could easily kick his ass. She would have appreciated the irony that it was the exact role she had given herself with her own husband. Ass kicker indeed... how he missed them all !

Richard didn't think he could keep the potion master a secret for long. Just as he knew that his house would never be appropriate for a family of four plus a lynx. He was worried about not providing a home to his new family. Anxious not to bring more to their happiness and well-being. He was alpha and needed to give them more than he had. However, he would have to accept that Severus had a perfect home for himself and his family, and a job that paid more than Richard's. And more power to protect them all than Richard would bring.

In any other situation Richard would not even have considered a companion he could not take care of and watch over. While inside him the wolf himself would have struggled to find someone powerful to complement its own strength. The only reason they agreed on chosing Severus was that Richard could see, feel, the magician had the need to belong and be loved. The man was strong in magic, but his heart was fragilized from suffering that had almost destroyed him. It was this need that had touched something in Richard.

A powerful wizard for the wolf, a man to love for Richard. He could only be grateful that the spell on the shop had allowed them to meet.

The sound of a car reached him. His bodyguards had came to be his drivers for the day as he had ordered them on the phone last evening before he went to bed.

Richard walked to his entryway and opened the door widely before calmly going back to the living room. His guards would follow him as soon as they got out of their car.

He smiled when one minute had not yet passed that the two men entered the room back straight and ready to face anything. They had come thinking Richard would have climbed into the car without letting them time to park as the king had done in recent weeks. Richard had been cold and distant with them for so long that they no longer hoped to one day be faced with the man who had saved them from their previous Ulfric. The man they once had respect for.

Richard watched Jamil, all dark skin and long black hair braided with tribal pearls. He was surprised that having chosen a man as a companion was not suddenly making him see the rest of the male population as sexually interesting. He had to admit that it reassured him. It's not that he was homophobic but that he had been sure of his tastes long before adolescence and he would have been lost if it suddenly changed. In fact the idea of being with another man was still repulsive for him except when he thought of Severus. Richard suppressed a sigh so not to show open relief. He felt that his attraction to the wizard was entirely due to the attraction he felt for his strong and fragile soul. No other man could provoke the same feelings in him. Or rather almost no other. There was this most complicated relationship he had with Jean-Claude, but he had ignored the situation enough to let it wait a little longer. There were more important things to do.

Jamil was more often than not silent but when he opened his mouth it was pure provocation and without hesitation. Richard counted on this particular trait to facilitate the conversation to come.

Shang Da was of Chinese origin, the same 6 feet tall as Jamil, and Richard wondered how he had to have two bodyguards so physically different but reaching the same height. Shang Da was a private and quiet man despite the strength that Richard could feel coming from him that would normaly attract attention. Competent and calm. Shang Da's first reaction would probably be to learn as much as possible after Richard had announced the reason for their presence.

The wolf king realized he wanted to talk to them about everything that had happened to him lately. He needed to tell them what the last few days had brought him. More than anything he had to tell them everything so that both men could fulfill their protective duties effectively.

He indicated for them to sit down and noticed some of the hesitation that none of them could hide.

Straightening and resting his elbows on his knees, head up and looking the two werewolves in the eye, he began:

"I think it's time to seriously discuss what's been going wrong in the clan. And I cannot see anyone else than the two of you who could better tell me exactly what I refused to see until now.".

Their eyes narrowed dangerously, putting all their attention entirely on him. They could both feel that something had changed and it worried them terribly. After all their king had disappeared for two days without informing anyone of where he went or why. Often in the past this kind of disappearance had announced trouble for St. Louis.

"If only one thing could be changed for our clan's well-being, what would it be?" Richard hastened to ask. More interested in their answer than in explaining his two days absence.

The two guards looked at each other briefly, a gesture so fast anyone else would have ignore it. But Richard knew them, knew his protectors were so finely synchronous that entire conversations could be told with a glance.

Having reached an agreement Jamil spoke first:

"Tensions have been high in recent weeks. The biggest cause is Anita. It seems that with each new decision she makes, the clan is put into the background over anything else in her life. But the pack needs her as Lupa. We can not let her leave the position because you two forming the triumvirate with Jean-Claude is all that protects our city. It is a bond that cannot be changed or erased without serious consequences."

"It gives me the problem but not how to solve it. Instead you're even telling me everything is already lost. "Tell Richard calmly.

Jamil took a breath, he never backtracked when time came to reveal his thoughts and he was not about to begin now:

"What is dangerous in this situation is Anita's influence not on the clan but on its king."

"On me." Added Richard.

"Yes. She is .... "

"If my mother was still here she would say that Anita is a bad influence I'd better not approach ever again."

Jamil gasped. Richard never talked about his family. Never. The subject became taboo when the pain of their loss became too heavy to bear. The guard merely nodded affirmatively.

"What would you suggest? "Inquired the wolf king.

Shang Da was the one to answer, seeing that his colleague was too surprised:

"We need to add a good influence to counteract the effects of Anita's actions and words."

Shang Da looked down, all three knew what the clan really wanted their king to do. They all wanted for him to find a female to mate with. A wife and children to support and succeed him. But Anita's presence was a poison for Richard who refused all advances from the clan's females. Anita refused to give herself to Richard as he would not accept to see her sleep with other men, wanting her to be faithfull to him. And Anita in turn expected Richard to never touch another woman than her. Anita could accuse the Ardeur all she wanted but it was unreasonable of her to prevent Richard's happiness. A good king was a happy king, not frustrated.

Richard turned his eyes toward the living room bay window. He watched one of the trees outside the house. Summer was about to begin. There were many ways to have an heir. He could choose one of the clan's children and raise him alongside the child biological parents. He could ask one of the females trying to seduce him to be inseminated to give him a child. One thing was certain, he would not mate with a woman when he had found the only person in the world capable of harmonizing man and wolf in him.

How could he make the clan accept Severus in their pack? While his people were already on the verge of rebellion because of his attitude in recent weeks. Then an idea came to him and a smile appeared on his lips. Jamil and Shang Da looked on worriedly. There was a perfect position for Severus in the clan. A place that Richard had despaired to one day fill and that Severus would accept just because the warlock had feared not being able to find a place at Richard's side in his pack. This solution was ideal. Not only for the Potion master, but for Richard and the clan too.

"I found our future Vargamor. "He announced.

His bodyguards were too used to hide any visible reaction or they would have sprung up and shouted to obtain explanation.

Instead, they were sitting on the same sofa, in front of Richard, blinking their eyes slowly, stunned. The Vargamor was usually a witch or a human with psychic powers who was part of and was assisting the pack of werewolves in overcoming clan's disputes. This position was currently vacant. To the wolves despair.

"You both know that St. Louis has been the refuge of a group of wizards and other people of power for nearly a century." A fact that the two guards were indeed supposed to know.

"None of their members ever agreed to occupy this place in our clan." Said Shang Da resentfully. The magic society had never explained why they refused to fulfill this role to help protect not only the wolves, but also the city. Even Jean-Claude had never been given a reason.

"I've learned a bit more about them recently. And I think I know why." Thought Richard aloud.

Jamil whispered encouragement, eager to know what all the wolves had requested to know. Richard continued:

"Their first rule is to not mix with werewolves or humans. They remain on the edge of the two worlds because it shields all of their members. They have indeed powerful beings among them but the majority of their population is made up of families with less powers. Enough to be different without being able to stand out from the rest of the world completely. Only a small number is at their head to protect them and also to watch over the city. This is why Jean-Claude appeals more to us than them when danger arises.

"The magicians concentrate forces at specific points, creating shields. Witches are scattered throughout the city, with their stores accessible to humans as much as supernatural. Healers share areas to treat those who would not go either to the hospital or the clinic. Separately they can help to partially simplify our daily tasks. They only are stronger when they come together and may do so only for special occasions, great dangers. They are actually our emergency line. That is why they are so reserved in the help they provide. Not because they do not want to but because they can not.

"Without them certain things would be much worse. With them there is the possibility of being helped and saved when we need it most. But clearly, they can not take the responsibility of being everywhere at once especially not as St. Louis is a refuge against the official magical council governing the rest of the country. All the strength of the magical society of St. Louis is centered into blocking all attempts the magical council of America makes to gain foothold here. And this action costs a lot to our city's sorcerers."

"But could they not lend us just one person?" Jamil asked, interested in what he just learned. 

"None of the most powerful of them since they are all integrated in a complex system of protection that can not risk being one presence less. Not the weakest who are not strong enough to really help us or bear the pressure of Vargamor. The middle ones in power strenght are already using all their powers in other places of the city."

"But you said you had found a ..." interjected Jamil.

"Yes." Cut off Richard. "But the situation is very special."

"Does this have something to do with our discussion of what is really needed to help the clan's wolves back on their feet?" Specifically, Shang Da thought without saying it out loud, the fact of finding a partner for Richard.

Which Richard understood without problem. The king stood up and walked to the window. He could not put his thoughts into words:

"What would happen if instead of mating with a female of the pack for an heir, I decided to choose one of our pups or even use one of the females to bear a child of my blood using insemination?"

Richard allowed them the sudden long heavy silence. His guards would give him an answer soon enough.

While Jamil and Shang Da thought about what could be the clan's reaction faced with such a possibility, Richard continued his contemplation. It had come to him that he could not last long without being able to go home every night and be greeted by his chosen family. Yet it was too early to ask Severus to live together. It remained that if he proposed the place of Vargamor to the other man, they whould need to be bound more intimately to prove to the clan that the choice was solid, that Severus was not going to give them up at any time.

There was no other way but to mate with Severus as soon as possible. And Richard did not know if the other man would accept that sacrifice. Their first meeting had only been a little over a week ago. And they were both so emotionally injured that they would need more time to heal and to live together. But perhaps the children would help? That their presence would make them a family and then leave them the space to become a couple. Richard was not afraid to form a family before he could conquer Severus completely. Because the best way to conquer the man would be to simply accept his family, his children. This could block Severus' efforts to accept their situation and yet Richard was convinced that this would not happen. That this fear was just that: a fear without reason. He had only to wait and see what would happen.

Shang Da's voice reached him hesitantly:

"That would be ... a good way to remove some of the tension in the clan. An heir would be a step in the right direction. But it would ..... there ...." Not knowing how to continue he turned to Jamil.

"Some people worry that you'll be expecting Anita to want to help you raise the child."

Richard chuckled. He could not imagine Anita as a mother. Not after what they had experienced. Not while knowing the Ardeur could come at any time and whould have her leaving the baby in one of her leopards arms while she went to bed with one of her many men. Maybe one day the urge would take Anita to start a family, or a pregnancy would come accidentally that she would have to assume.

Of course, she would be frightened of such a change in her life, and then she would start to like the idea of starting a family to prove to all those who criticized her lifestyle that she was human, like the others. Anita had never accepted to be treated other than as a human being. Despite her powers and positions in the human community she preferred to usually ignore this part of her when she was facing other humans. She wanted to prove to them that she was not a monster or immoral.

And while wanting this normality she continued to use her powers and positions and sought to become more powerful to fight against the supernatural that put them at risk. This power she rejected as much as she wanted it.

This was partly her reason for rejecting Richard as she had done. Richard gave the illusion of a normal life before he took up as Ulfric of his clan. He was both what could have been, what she wanted to have, and what she refused to let into her life. It was hypocritical because that supernatural which she wanted to limit the presence of in her life, she accepted from all sides as long as it did not come from Richard.

Richard thought that if Anita had children one day, it would have to be with someone less dominant than her or someone powerful who let her dominate their relationship as she wanted to. Anita would not accept a partner who would take over. That woman wanted to decide everything because what made her most afraid was losing control over her life. Ironic given that the supernatural had taken control of her life.

Richard forced himself not to think about it. Anita was doing what she wanted in her life now. Richard should just make sure she realized that she had no place in his own family. Although Lupa of his clan, she would be in no way mother or wife in Richard's eyes. He knew she would try to force his hand at one time or another, believing that he was possessed or completely lost or whatever else. Especially when she learned that his choice was focused on another man. Richard sighed, his life would become hell when it came to Anita. The good point in all this was Severus and his sons. And it surpassed everything else.

"There is no risk of that. Not when I've chosen a companion with whom to have a family with. "He confessed at last.

"Excuse me!"

It looked like his bodyguards could still surprise him. He had not expected them to react like that. It might be too surprising an information for them to keep their usual composure Richard thought with amusement.

"My wolf has chosen the perfect companion for him and I agree with him. Even if he surprised me by chosing a man." Added Richard.

"A man... Vargamor .... ...." Shang Da quickly made the connection and then went straight to the conclusion that Richard had predicted the two would think was correct. "Perhaps it would be prudent for Jean-Claude to meet this person to be sure...I mean..."

"To make sure I did not fall victim of a powerful magic user who would control my mind to reach a position of power?" Richard asked with humor.

The awkward silence was answer enough.

"I will organize the meeting in the coming days." Stated Richard easily.

His two bodyguards looked at each other anxiously. They did not know how to handle this situation and hoped that Jean-Claude could deal with whatever was suddenly happening.


End file.
